[Salt Flats] Tools of a Falcon and Falconer (Luk)

[Cin-Cin]

TimeStamp: Fall Day 10, 512 Try, who was circling above the Inarta pair, swooped down onto his perch next to Cin-Cin as she began to speak. "Ok, first things first." Said Cin to Luk. "We are at the Salt Flats, and I'll tell you why." Cin gestured out behind her. The Salt Flats are almost exactly when they say they are, flat. Everyone who had a bird of some kind knew hat this was the best place to train your beginner bird, or beginner falconer to hunt. The flat surface allows the falconer to watch his bird at all time and see how fast the bird goes and exactly what he does. "The Salt Flats are the perfect place to teach both a falconer and falcon, to hunt, obey and return. And although we are here, we will not be learning to hunt." Cin-Cin put her hand on the bird perch placed next to her. She had lugged that heavy wood thing all the way up here and she frowned at the thought of having to drag it all the way back home. "Falconry is an art, and all art has tools. There are four major tools every falconer needs to control his bird and two optional tools, used really for caring for the bird." Opening her backpack, Cin grabbed five items from it and place the in a row on the ground next to Try's perch. "These are what we are going to be learning about today." These items are what Cin-Cin first learned about, so it only fit that he student learn first with them as well. "Along with basic principles of keeping a falcon, these are the most important tools in falconry."

[Luk]

Luk looked across the flatness of the salt flats, a smile passed by his lips. Besides the forests around the mountain, this would be one of his favorite places in the world. The freedom the bird show during their flight within the area was a sight that would bring a smile to anyone’s lips at the wondrous sight.

As Luk crossed the flats, each breath he took the salty smell filled his nostrils with the scent of the sea, his mouth was the savoring the taste that reminded him of salted meat. The hunter continued on his path until he had located the beautiful redhead falconer, who he had met a day or so previously.

He nodded to her when he had finally reached her position in the flats. As her beautiful Falcon landed on a perch next to her she smiled at him and looked around. She went into a detailed speech on why the salt flats were a good place for beginner falconers to learn their craft with their birds. She then took open a small number of objects, recognizing only one of them. The hood, an item used to help control their birds.

Luk looked over each of the pieces and then in a soft and quiet voice he spoke, “I recognize one of these objects. But the rest of these items I have seen before but do not know their names nor their purpose.” He looked over the items once more and added shyly. “Thank you for teaching me this.”

[Cin-Cin]

Cin nodded at his thanks and smiled, "You're very welcome. This is my passion and I don't mind sharing it." She wondered what item is was that he knew, it didn't matter though, she would teach him about all of them. "We are going to start with this heavy thing." She said, patting the perch, Try cawed and she shot him a look. She wasn't going to hit him, jeez. "This is the perch. One of the optional tools. You only need this if you own a bird." The perch was about 4 feet high, a dark wood and resembled a 'T' shaped branch of a tree. "These are what falcons need to sleep, it's like their bed. It is supposed to resemble their natural habitat, in this case, a tree branch." Cin had a feeling he didn't own a bird, if he didn't know what any of these items were.She continued, "Perches can also be paired with mews. Mews, which I don't have here nor own, are like large cages to limit the birds freedom. Mews are only needed it the bird is not trained and tends to fly away." Cin-Cin didn't need a mew. Try was probably the most well behaved bird ever. They were best friends too, so that was a plus. "Perches differ in style when the birds differ. Each birds feet are different, and sit differently. Some stand straight, other round off and need a more edged perch. Others need a completely flat perch." Cin-Cin laughed, "Its quite complicated. I had a friend of my fathers build this one, and he messed it up twice!" "But thats all you need to know about Perches. Any questions?" Cin asked.

[Cin-Cin]

The man stayed silent so Cin continued her lesson. Bending to the ground Cin-Cin picked up a small ivory whistle. It was shaped like a regular whistle, but the sound made, that she would soon demonstrate was much different than normal. “This is a Gyrfalcon whistle. More basically called a Bird Call. These are easy to find and relatively cheap. Although they must be custom made.” Blowing through the object it made a high pitched coo and Try began to fluff his wings and shake his head at the noise. “This sound mimics the mating call of the Gyrfalcon, and depending on what bird you are working with, the sound changes with each whistle. For example f you are working with a Red Tailed Hawk, you would need the Bird Call whistle that mimicked their mating call.” Cin-Cin then gestured for Try to leave them, which he did promptly, flying up and high over the Salt Flats. She gave the whistle to Luk, allowing him to turn it around in his hands and examine the tool before he quietly handed it back. Looking around Cin located Try a few hundred meters away, circling a small mouse that was scurrying away from his presence. Before blowing her whistle she allowed Try to catch the poor animal before he was summoned back. Try dove quickly when he mouse ran in circles, getting lost in the vast flatness of its home. Try saw its confusion and swooped down upon it, abandoning his talons for the quick use of his curved beak. He swiftly gobbled up his snack and took to the air again where Cin decided he was finished and blew her whistle. The bird head snapped around to the pairs direction and he changed his course. He flew back to the student and teacher, hovering close to Cin until he gestured back to the perch where he promptly returned to his standing position next to his master. “The whistle allows the Falconer to control the bird’s where-abouts. It calls the bird back to the master and also alerts the master of the birds location. It is a vital part of controlling the bird.” Cin-Cin concluded.

[Cin-Cin]

The boys eyes were silent but watchful. At least he was paying attention. Cin-Cin bent over an dpicked up a small leather pouch. It had a small hole in the side and a large hole used as the enterance. On the bottom was a small point of leather, stiffened to stay upright. There were also two thin leather straps on the side opposite the small hole that seemed to tie that side closed. This was the image one would get if they had no former knowledge of the item. If turned upside down the pouch was perfectly sized and shaped to be put over a birds head, covering its eyes. “This hood, when put over the falcon’s eyes, calms it. If the bird cannot see then it has no fear, unlike humans who fear nothingness, birds are calmed by it. The bird will always, until trained otherwise, to resist the hood.” Cin-Cin demonstrated on her pet. Try, although usually calm, does not like the hood, it’s a bit uncomfortable. Cin held up the hood by the stiffened leather straps located on the top of the hood. Holding the rest of her arm well away from the birds head she slipped it carefully, but swiftly, over Try’s head. Seeing this weapon coming towards him, Try shook and fluffed his wings as well as moved his head like a dog would after getting it wet. But Cin, skillfully trained at this, was able to get the hood on without a problem and Try cawed quietly through the small opening across his beak. Quickly, she tied the two thin leather straps, now behind the falcon’s head, lightly in a small knot. This knot would easily undo by the hand of a human, but be unable to be shaken off the bird. Perfect for this situation. Try immediately calmed down, shook his head once and settled his feathers. He put his head down, his beak towards his chin, as if sleeping. “It may look easy, but as a beginner this is a difficult and challenging task. The bird will fight it, until properly trained, and even you can see that Try still does not like it. And try is very well behaved. The trainer needs to train himself before he will even begin to hope to control his bird. This is true in all necessary tools, not just the hood.” “The hood is too be quickly pushed over the birds head, avoiding all contact, or direct vicinity of the bird’s beak as it is likely to strike out. The hood, after applied, must be secured with a loose, but strong knot, to the bird cannot shake it off, but is also not being choked. Do this correctly and the bird will calm itself on its own.”

[Harrier]

Skills	Amount
Falconry	5
Teaching	5

Lore

The Ins and Outs of Falconry

How to safely hood a raptor

Why the Salt Flats are good for bird training

Additional Comments: Sorry Luk bailed on you I tried to award what I could for what you gave. I did enjoy seeing the details of falconry tools you put in. Nice job.